Page 33 of Dirty Desires
Chapter Fourteen
Ashton
The longer I sat there, looking at the text Artimus had sent to me, the madder I got.
Who did he think he was, sending me that information? Why did he think he could butt into that part of my life?
I had to make some drastic changes, and there was no better time than the present.
Storming up to Artimus’ office, I flew off the elevator as Brady and his intern Veronica looked at me with mouths gaping.
“Is Artimus in?” I asked with a sharp tone.
Brady nodded. “Yeah. Are you okay, Ashton?”
“Never better.” I hit the door to my boss’s office with my fist. “It’s me, Artimus. Open up.”
Once the door opened, I saw Artimus sitting behind his large desk, looking at me with an alarmed expression. “What the hell, Ashton?”
Taking long strides, I got to his desk where I pounded my fist on top of it. “Who do you think you are?”
His eyes narrowed as he looked at me. “Take a seat.”
“No.” I banged the desk again. “Why do you think you can butt into my personal business?”
He stood up too, trying to exert his authority, I assumed. “Listen to me, Ashton Lange. I know you’re upset and not yourself right now. And I do understand why. But you can’t stand here and ask me why I think I have a right to do anything where you’re concerned. You are one of my best friends. I can help you—or try to, at least—if I feel you need help. Which you do, by the way.”
I hated the fact that he thought I needed help. “You don’t understand at all, Artimus. No one does.”
“And that’s where you’re completely wrong, Ashton.” He came around his desk to put his hand on my shoulder. “Other people have gone through loss. Other people have lived through the same thing you have. There are people who can help you.”
All I could do was shake my head, knowing that he didn’t understand what I needed at all. “No one has gone through exactly what I have. No one, Artimus. You could never understand. And I don’t expect you to. What I do expect from you is loyalty. But you’ve just proven to me that your loyalty doesn’t lie with me, it lies with Nina. I never expected that from you or Duke.”
A wry smile curled his lips. “Have I disappointed you, Ashton?”
With a nod, I answered his question. “More than you know. Being ambushed by the one person I didn’t want to see and finding out that it was all your doing—well, that fucking sucks.”
“You needed to see her. You needed to talk to her. But I know that didn’t go the way I hoped it would.” He walked away from me, going to the bar in the far corner of his office and pulling out a bottle of Scotch. “Come, let’s have a drink and talk about things.”
I didn’t want a drink. I just wanted to get shit straight with him and get the hell out of there. But my feet went toward him anyway. My hand took the glass of alcohol. Then my lips parted to drink some of it down.
My body has become a real traitor to me of late.
Artimus took a seat in one of the overstuffed brown leather chairs and pointed to another one. “Have a seat.”
“I don’t—” I began to protest.
His eyes went narrow once more. “Have a seat,” came his stern interruption.
I wasn’t afraid of Artimus. Hell, we were both around the same size and build. I could hold my own if he and I got physical. But I didn’t want that to happen, so I took a seat and another sip. I felt a little bit calmer as I said, “I know you mean well, but I can’t do this anymore. I’m losing too much.”
“And how is that?” he asked, taking a sip of the Scotch before putting the short crystal glass down on the side table next to him.
I didn’t want to tell him about anything. I knew it would sound insane. But I also knew he wasn’t going to just let me do what I felt I had to without hearing some kind of an explanation for it. “I know that you think the best thing for me is to go see a shrink. But I know what that Patel woman will want to do to me.”
He looked at me with concern etching his expression. “You do?”
“Yes, I do.” I took another drink then put the glass down. “I haven’t told you everything about my fiancée. Her name was Natalia Reddy.”
